How To Choose a Gynaechologist for Moms To Be

How to choose a gynaechologist (gynae) when you are pregnant. To me, there

 is only ONE rule. Get someone whom you are most comfortable with as he/she is going to be with you throughout the pregnancy and in your most important moment. So while you are looking for this person, what are the traits to look out for. Here's my view.

1. A male or a female. Is that really important??? To some maybe as some may feel extremely self conscious and uncomfortable around male gynaes. To others, like me, we would go for males as hypothetically they are gentler and more compassionate towards preggy moms. 
   
   
2. Go for a recommended gynae. Ask your friends to refer you to a gynae. At least you get to hear your friend's opinions about them first.
   
   
3. Go for a gynae who is attached to the hospital that you choose to deliver in. You just want to make sure that the gynae who accompanies you throughout your term is going to be the gynae who delivers your baby.  
   
   
4. Go for a gynae who is patient and who listens AND answers to all your questions and uncertainties... no matter how basic or seemingly 'silly' questions. Preggy moms tend to worry alot. Is this pain normal? Is that ache something to worry about? Is my baby growing well? Is the umblical cord  away from the neck, etc etc. It's going to be a whole 9 months. Each stage presents new questions and experiences. You don't want to worry yourself mad throughout the term.
   
   
5. Go to a gynae attached to a hospital that fits your budget. If you are working, most of the case, you are allowed to claim your maternity. However, visits to gynae may or may not be included. In my case, it was capped by the number of visits.
   
   For working moms, check what your company covers for maternity claims and maternity leave. Also check out your hubby's company too. You need to plan out the finances. Having babies is very expensive especially if you are not going for natural delivery.
   
   
6. Make sure that the hospital that you choose is not too far from your house. Most of the time, you would have already started your maternity/leave while waiting to deliver. You just don't know if your baby is coming at peak office traffic, rainy/stormy day with bad traffic or in very convenient times. So far I have been lucky :)
   
   
7. And then there is this budget thing. The choice of government hospital vs semi government hospital vs private hospital. Most reputable gynaes are from the private sectors.

I followed 2 very experienced gynaes from Pantai Hospital Bangsar. 

Ryan and Raymund was delivered by the late Dr Jeremy Chuah. He was very reputable. After his demise, I insisted on looking for a gynae with Pantai Hospital Bangsar. It's simply because I want a familiar environment which I know what to expect. Moreover, Pantai Bangsar is one hospital which encourages mother baby bonding and breast feeding. They encourage new born babies to sleep in the same room as their moms and not in the 'nursery'. In some hospitals, this is not the case as it means more work for them.

I found another experienced gynae, Dr Choong Kuo Hsiang who is very patient and makes sure you know about what you need to know. I was well taken care of under his care. His wife, Mrs Christine Choong is a breast feeding expert and most of the time, she makes ward visits to new moms under Dr Choong's care and advises us on breast feeding. If you want to know his contact, do drop me a note.

And ... BTW ...another reason I choose Pantai Hospital is because this is one hospital which encourages mother baby bonding and breast feeding. They encourage new born babies to sleep in the same room with their moms and not in the 'nursery'. In some hospitals, this is not the case as it means more work for them.

Eczema in Children

Just yesterday, a friend of mine called me for advice on eczema. Why me? Coz Ryan and Raymund have bad atopic eczema problem - especially for Ryan since he is attending school. I have such headache trying to help my kids.

What is eczema?

It is the inflamation of the skin that tends to flare up from time to time and when aggravated. The most common being atopic eczema which increases the chance of getting asthma and hay fever. What causes it? Don't exactly know. 

With my kids, heat and sweat aggravates the symptoms making it unbearably itchy for them. They would scratch and scratch until the skin breaks and gets infected. I have seen many pediatricians and even a dermatologist about this but not much help. There is actually no cure but we can control or ease the symptoms. The docs say that it MIGHT go off when they grow older into their teens. 

My sons' eczema appear around the wrists, back of knee, neck, ear lobes (many times the ear lobes cracked and bled), around the elbow and basically all joint areas where sweat can accumulate. It will also flare up just before they fall sick. So, sometimes, I'm able to tell when my kids are about to get sick and prepare for it. That's the ONLY up side to it :)

The symptoms:

1. Dry skin
2. Red and inflamed skin - commonly at joint and folds of skin like the ones I have mentioned above
3. Itchy... very itchy...and if scratched, it gets worse
4. May become infected especially when the skin breaks

What to do?

• Always moisturize the skin with good moisturizers - preferably non perfumed and mild. My dermatologist suggested: Cetaphil, Sebamed, Physioget, Dermaveen, Zicgy, QV and Oilatom. We use Cetaphil and Sebamed. These can be found in pharmacies.

• Use mild soap - I use Sebamed for babies. Other brands suggested by my dermatologists are Lactacyd, Cetaphil and Oilatum. Also can get them from pharmacies.

• Keep clean and keep cool. This is a challenge for school going children!!

• For babies, change milk to hypo allergic ones - eg Enfalac HA, Nan HA

• See doc for medicine when eczema flares up. Normally they will give you steroids and moisturizer. If you can, ask for the mildest one first eg U-Closone. Coz if this doesn't work or your child is immuned to it overtime, you have to go for the stronger ones eg Elomet. It just steps up. Remember to apply thinly at only affected areas. Steroids can thin the skin if used too much and too long.
  
  If you are concerned about steroids, docs will ask you to buy a non-steroid one called Protopic but it will cost you a bomb - more than RM100 a tube. 

• If the skin is broken, the doc would sometimes prescribe antibiotic cream to prevent infection.

• Do not use calamine as it dries the skin. It may only relieve for a while.

My kids are still suffering from it. I always have ready supplies of moisturizers and steroids around. I just hope they will grow out of it soon. Their skin is so scarred and dry. I'm very sad :(

Now I Cut My Maid's Hair :P

In another post 'I Cut My Children's Hair' (label: Child Care), I discussed about the challenges of cutting my kiddo's hair. Have been at it for 3-4 years now. And I love the bonding and experiences :)

Now my maids asked me to cut their hair. 'Are you sure?' I asked. I'm just an ala hair stylist for

 my kids AND the most wonderful part is that I'd know the hair style only AFTER the hair cut. Suspense, suspense! 

Well, I attempted my maid's hair today. Tried for one of those 'IN' styles - a bob with one side longer than the other. Err... I just came back from doing my hair and sort of observed what my hair stylist did. Like I can be an instant hair stylist, Ha ha! If so, I can open a shop already la! 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Ha, ha! How did I do? :)

Getting My 5-year-old Son to Express Himself More

In my earlier post, I was saying that Ryan was a late bloomer and only started to talk when he was in kindergarten at 3-4 years old. As such, he was very much behind in class in terms of speech and thus affected other learnings. 

See post 'My Son Was Slow in Speech Development' tagged under 'Speech Therapist'

I have seen marked improvement since as I have been collaborating efforts with his kindergarten teacher to bring his learning up to speed. It requires lots of patience, time and efforts. 

Of late, he has been picking up new vocabularies - I suspect from TV - and I thought that it's about time to do more, like getting him to 'express' himself, building on his creativity and coaching his thinking process. Nothing drastics. Only simple logics and reasonings. After all, he is only 5 years old.

These are what I have been practising with him:

1. Whenever he tells me something, I'll ask lots of WHYs and HOW COMEs and see what he comes up with. Sometimes, it is actually quite entertaining. In the process, I'd correct his pronunciations,  sentence structure and introduce new concepts and vocabularies. 
2. I'd encourage him to tell me stories spontaneously. Stories that he would make up with some of his favourite characters in them. I would help him with prompters and suggestions. This is very fun and entertaining.
   
3. I have also been discussing simple concepts or morals with him. The latest is about 'Strangers', 'What you must never do in a restaurant' and 'What's inside our body'.

I'm still cracking my head, trying to come up with what else to do with him. How to keep his learning interest high. Thinking, thinking...

My 3 Rs

Here are some of the photos that I just took of my 3 R's - Ryan, Raymund and Rachel. It is really quite a challenge to get all of them to sit together and pose for me. 

Trying to get them to cooperate. None of them listening!!

"How do I look?"

Rachel looking at the her bored bros

"Is it over yet, mom?"

Mei Mei pat pat kor kor ..."It's ok, kor kor. Wait wait ya"

Do-s and Don't-s When You Are Pregnant

Here are some of the advices for Pregnant Ladies. Some were actually instructions from my gynaecologists. If you are not sure, always consult your gynaecologist (gynae). I would normally prepare a list of questions for my gynae in every visit. A good gynae would listen and advise you patiently about what you need or want to know. I'll have another topic about 'How to Choose a Gynae' later. 

However, you have to bear in mind that gynaecologists' views and traditional Chinese's views may not always agree. In fact, they disagree a lot of times! So in those cases, it is really our decision about what to follow. Being somewhat a 'banana' myself, I followed professional advices most of the time when in conflict. Of course then, the dilemma comes when your mother or mother-in-law believes in the traditional way  :)  :)

AND... I also found out that there could also be different views between gynaes! So don't get too worried if you hear different advices from other preggy mom's gynaes. Ask your gynae about such differing views and trust your own gynae as those situations may be unique to other preggy moms. 

My gynae's advices:

• Do not eat raw food. So, avoid sashimi, raw salad and just about anything that is not thoroughly cooked.

• Do not eat Chinese Herbs especially ginseng, or any Chinese Herbs relating to 'sum' (cantonese) !! 
  Here is the dillema for a lot of Chinese moms-to-be because some moms or moms-in-law believe in 'poh' for pregnant ladies and hence, double boil lots of 'poh' soup for their preggy daughters.  I had some minor run ins with my MIL on my 1st pregnancy but she is a very good and understanding person. So, no big issue really. The reason behind this is... especially during the early stage when the embryo is trying to attach securely in the womb, heaty stuff like this can loosen the attachment and cause miscarriage. My doc explained it better but the end result is the same. In fact, he disallowed Chinese Herbs throughout the pregnancy. 

• Do not eat Bak Kut Teh - the same reason as above. And Bak Kut Teh is even worse as it has many types of Chinese herbs in it. Very heaty.

• One of my gynaes did not allow me to take Chinese Herbal drinks ('leung sui'). He claimed that these drinks can cause black patches on baby's body or face. Hmmm. But I followed anyway.

• Do not eat fruits with skin. Peel off the skin before you eat them. The worry is pesticides on the skins which can adversely affect the baby.

• Do not consume wine or anything that is alchoholic. When I was about 6 months pregnant with Rachel, I took a bowl of chicken wine. I bled that night and thank God, Rachel was safe. 

• Do not carry heavy things especially in the 1st trisemester. If you have an older child, try to get your hubby to take over first.

• No sex in the 1st Trisemester until the gynae says so (normally around 3-4 months). My gynae would tell me when it was safe. Nothing to be shy about really. 

• Do not fall. Yes, yes, I know - nobody wants to fall. Now is even more critical. Just be careful where you step on and wear non-slip low/flat-heeled shoes.

• Do not take milk supplement like Anmum unless the growth of the baby is not satisfactory. Otherwise you and the baby will only put on weight and thus, a more difficult birthing process. Anmum and such are for malnourished moms - according to my gynae. (I asked about this) One of my friends ballooned up after taking Anmum and she was in labour for 2 days.

• Try not to take bird nests??!!! According to my gynae, there is actually nothing wrong with bird nests ... IF you are SURE that they are genuine. In a lot of cases, the bird nests are not 100% genuine and the fake part has petroleum components in them that is harmful to the baby.

• Take the Folic Acid and later the multi vitamins that your gynae give you. They have all the right proportions of vitamins and supplements needed for a preggy mom. 

• Do not perm or colour your hair. The ammonia component can absorb into the blood and is harmful to the baby. I even when to the extend of checking the ingredients of my shampoo and conditioners for ammonia.

• Do not simply take medicine for flu or sickness. Not all medicine is suitable for preggy moms and may harm the baby. Always tell your GP (if you are not seeing your gynae) that you are pregnant if you are not already showing. In my case, I always go to my gynae for medication. I found out that not all GPs know what is suitable for preggy moms. They referred to their reference book when I was consulting them!!!

Other advices that I gathered along the way:

• Do not eat cool things like watermelon, pineapple, leung sui, etc. This is a Chinese belief. I followed even  though my gynae said that there is nothing wrong with fruits - even pineapple. Huh? 

• Do not jump, squat, stretch, run or do anything exertive. 

• Some say do not paint your nails and put on makeup. I didn't do the nails but I had to put on the makeup when I go to work. So far so good.

• A Chinese acupuncturist advised me not to apply Muscle Pain medication on the body - including 'Tit Ta Yau". He said it had caused miscarriage in some of his patients. Actually if you take a look at the terms of use for some  like 'Deep Heat', it actually mentions some risk for pregnant and breast feeding moms. My gynae gave me but told me to apply sparingly for my backache.

• Eat well and rest well.

• If you really really really want to go to the gym, get an instructor who KNOWS how to guide a preggy mom. 

That is about all that I can recall for now. 

My Little Rachel had FIVE Types of Vaccination Today!!

My poor little Rachel had 5 types of vaccination today - all combined into 2 injections. She is 7 months old but she hadn't had her 4-5month jab earlier due to cough and flu. The pediatrician refused to jab her earlier when she was sick or when her brothers were sick. Otherwise if she had taken the jab AND caught the viruses, she would have suffered with high fever and so forth since the jab would have aggravated the symtoms. That had been going on for quite a while. Now her brothers may just have caught chicken pox. I thought I had better send her for a jab now (during the incubation period) before the pox flares up (if she caught it).

The doctor gave her vaccinations for -

1. Diphterheria, Pertusis (Whooping cough), Tetanus (3rd dose)
2. Polio
3. Meningitis B (3rdd dose)
4. Hepatitis B (3rd dose)
5. Pneumococcal (3rd dose)

I guess it was painful for her.

I felt the pain too. It costed me RM498!!! I'm so broke!!

Some 'Pantang Larang'-s for Pregnant Ladies

My couzy asked me to tell her about some of the pantang larangs for pregnant ladies. Actually, I'm just bout the wrong person to blog this - ha,ha! I'm such a non believer to pantangs and some would say I'm a 'banana'. No! No! I don't look like a banana! It is just a term that Malaysians (not sure about other countries) use to describe a Chinese with Western mentality. 

A banana has:

Yellow skin =  outwardly Chinese

White flesh = inwardly western

I'm not exactly banana. But I believe in things which can be substantiated (ie science) or logical. I think my parent-in-laws have a bit of problem about this with me :) wink! wink!!

But then again, for the sake of my babies, I followed some :)

Here's a list of what I know even though more than half of them, I don't know why they are 'pantang'. Haha!

1. In the 1st 3 months of pregnancy, do not tell anyone that you are pregnant. Else may not make it through. 
2. Do not drill or hammer nails during pregnancy. If you need to, just get out of the house and say 'Baby, we are going out now'. My feng shui master advised me on this when we had to install air conds in the house.
3. Do not go to a place where construction is in progress. 
4. Do not shift house
5. Do not cut - especially on the bed - else baby will have hair-lipped
6. Do not sew else some parts of baby will be 'sewn' together 
7. Do not paste things in the bedroom. My Ryan has a birthmark on his chect. Someone asks me once if I pasted anything while I was pregnant. I pasted/stuck baby posters on the walls in the bedroom. Hmmm
8. Cannot go to any full moon celebrations when you are pregnant. 'Chung'/against the celebration!
9. Cannot move furnitures in your room - especially marriage bed/the bed that you are sleeping in
10. Cannot attend funerals
11. Cannot do gardening. Once when I was pregnant (about 1 month), I was planting grass and walk ways in my new house. I had a miscarriage after that. My hubby thought it could be because of that. But then again, the pregnancy was not strong to start off with. So...
12. Cannot eat seafood like crab because 'tok'/has toxin. This one I believe because seafood can cause sensitive skins and I had a lot. Ended my kids have bad eczema. My daughter is ok so far as I controlled my intake.
13. Do not eat lamb ('yeung' in cantonese) - else baby gets 'fat yeung tiu'/epilepsy. I was laughing about this. Just because the animal is called 'yeung' doesn't mean you'll get 'fat yeung tiu'. Other when you eat chicken/'kai', you'll get 'fat kai won' la!! Some got irritated with me about this!! Hehe!
14. Do not watch animals like monkey else the baby will look like monkey (eg). now this one has some science behind this and it was proven. So better believe it. Some saids it was due to constant exposure or when you had a shock when you see the animal. Not sure. Better avoid. But easier said than done coz TV and Astro love to show animals!
15. Do not watch horror shows
16. Do not eat cool things like watermelon, herbal drink etc. Avoid fruits in the 1st 4 months. May cause miscarriage. I definitely followed this as my Chinese medical practitioner advised this

That's all I can remember. You can read to entertain yourself or you can follow them. Some would say that it is better safe than sorry. And there is another set of pantangs for post natal. That's another story altogether.

glitter-graphics.com

My Kids Got Chicken Pox?

Last night, tiny red dots appeared on Ryan's body. I noticed some of these red dots the day before but I thought it was just mosquito bites as I had quite a few myself. Well, yesterday, more dots appeared on his body... were these mosquito bites (coz Ryan was sleeping with his pants off the night before and maybe the mossies had a feast on him?) or is he having chicken pox (One of his classmates is down with chicken pox)?? Panicked - brought him straight to the doctor. What if Raymund catch it? Worse, what if Rachel gets it? Sure going to be a domino effect! Headache! 

The doctor couldn't quite tell. He said that it looked like chicken pox and we will know if it is chicken pox if it spreads the next day. Because he had chicken pox vaccination earlier, the infection will be quite mild and so, there is nothing to worry. As for Raymund, though he had a jab, it has been more than a year since and he would have already been infected. Again, it will be mild too. As for Rachel, the one I worry about most coz she has yet to have the vaccination, surprise, surprise! She is LEAST likely to be infected! Why? I had chicken pox before and at birth, my antibodies would have passed on to her and it has only been 6 months ago. I read somewhere... "At birth, infants have protection against certain diseases because antibodies have passed through the placenta from the mother to the unborn child. After birth, breastfed babies get the continued benefits of additional antibodies in breast milk. But in both cases, the protection is temporary." 

So what if Ryan gets it? What to do? 

1. Drink lots of water. Drink 'leong sui' (herbal drink) or even fresh coconut water. The idea is to cool down the body to control to outbreak. I bought Ryan and Raymund fresh coconut water and made 'chuk je sui'
2. Apply calamine on affected areas. I'm quite relunctant to apply calamine on the face. I used Hazeline Snow instead.
3. Do not let him scratch
4. There is an option to take anti-viral medicine to suppress the infection. But some says that suppression may not provide immunity later. So, they advised me to let it break out. Forgot to ask the doc about this
5. Quarantine him. No school. No playground. No outing. Poor thing!

[This section is for my couzy, Vivien :) ]  

What about pregnant ladies? When I was pregnant with Ryan, my colleague had chicken pox and I was in close contact with her just before the spots showed. Panicked big time! Will it affect my baby. The first question that my gynae asked me was have I had chicken pox before? And whether I was in the early pregnancy stage (1st 3 months) or almost delivery stage. Since I had chicken pox before, my antibodies would have already been passed to my baby though the placenta and there is nothing to worry about. However, if you are NOT immune and at the early stage of pregnancy or almost delivery stage, there is a risk of birth defect or may be even worse if you are at almost delivery stage. Call your gynecologist immediately for advice. And also google up for more information.

Bak Chang Festival tomorrow

'Bak' means 'pork' and 'chang' means 'dumpling' in Hokkien. Or us cantonese will just call it 'jung'.

My previous confinement lady, Wan Cheh made and gave me a big bag of Hokkien 'jung' recently. When I received it, the delicious smell of freshly made 'jung' was oh-so-yummy! I just couldn't wait to devour it! My mother in law also made some Nyonya Bak Chang as well. Those are my hubby's favourites!!!

So what is this Bak Chang Festival?

Bak Chang Festival also known as Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Besides Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival (or Mid Autumn Festival) and Winter Solstice Festival (or 'Kor Tung'/'Tong Yuen' Festival), this is also one of the most celebrated festivals amongst Chinese community. Or at least we enjoy eating the bak chang :) :) If you want to know about the Legend of the Dragon Boat Festival (or the Legend ogf Poet Chu Yuan) and how 'bak chang'/'jung' in cantonese was created, check out this site. An interesting read.
http://www.geocities.com/machesticdragons/legend.html

Come to think of it. Since my kiddo days, Chinese legends are sort of lost amongst the newer generations. I used to enjoy listening to Chinese tales and legends including the 5 beauties of China, 7 Fairies ('chat sin lui') and lots more. I don't hear them anymore. Such a pity. Perhaps I'll dig out some and tell them to my children as bed time stories.

When You Suspect that You Are Pregnant!

A mom 3 times over - I guess I can give some flashbacks about my experiences about what I did when I found that I was pregnant. The most memorable one was my first pregnancy. More so because it was the first time and not knowing what to do and what to expect. When my 2nd and 3rd baby were conceived, it was almost like a piece of cake! Exagerating a bit la. 

Each pregnancy of mine wasn't exactly the same. But most importantly, we have to be careful and do what we think is right and safe for the baby. These were some of the things I did when I suspected that I was pregnant:

1. Bought a home pregnancy pack to check out if I was pregnant. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning when you wake up. My book told me to do so 10 days after I missed my period for better accuracy.
2. Hunted for a gynecologist. If you are not sure who or where. Ask your friends and relatives (moms) to recommend. I will blog about this later. 
3. Had the 1st appointment with my gynaecologist to confirm my pregnancy. My docs scanned my tummy to look for the little 'bag' and did urine tests on the 1st visit. They would normally give the necessary Folic to be taken daily. Or additional medicine/supplements if the doctor feels it is necessary.
4. Most importantly, my GP advised - Take the day off and celebrate with dear hubby! It's a special moment!!!

A personal note:

1. Stop all supplements or medicine, including Chinese 'poh' herbs. Ask your gynaecologist first before continuing. Have to be sure that it is safe for the fetus. In my case, my gynae just told me to drop everything as his vitamins would have been enough for my pregnancy.
2. If you are on medicine (due to virus, etc), immediately tell your gynaecologist as some medicine are harmful to the fetus. You can even google it for more info.

About My Blog

When I first created my blog, I couldn't decide whether I should share information on the little that I know and what I could find out about parenting, pregnancy and family. Of course, these aren't professional advices but just sharing my experiences and learnings as I go through each and evey phase. Then, I was kind of worried that it gets too dry, lots of words and so forth. Perhaps my friends and readers like lots of pictures as well as light and easy reads. I don't know and I couldn't decide. I did both :) :). But still sometimes and most times :), I got too carried away and got quite lengthy instead. Well, I'm new to blogging but it is getting more addictive each day. I just love to write! And, it is also fun to carry my camera around and talk about what I do and see everyday too.

Lately some of friends who have been to my blog like my posts especially the informative and lengthy ones. Haha, Thanks! My cousin Vivien asked me to blog about my experiences as a preggy mum 3 times over. Love to. So, I'll attempt that route too and hope that you enjoy it :)

Cheers

A Day with Some Good News

Today I received a few good news. Cheered me up some :) And they are all 'baby' news :)

My ex-boss Genista is gonna deliver a baby boy within these 2 weeks. She had been trying for a 2nd baby for quite a while earlier... and now, I'm so happy for her. I'm going to go shopping for some cute baby clothes soon.

My newly married cousin Vivien just found out that she is pregnant! How wonderful! Her wish came through.

My best wishes to both of them.

And guess what, I'm gonna blog about preggies and babies next. 

Visit to the Chinese Medicine shop again

Snow Jelly Red Dates "Sang suk yee mai"

Just made a trip to the Chinese Medicine shop in OUG (opposite the wet market, next to Guardian) to get Rachel's Similac milk  and some Chinese medicine. This shop's pricing is very reasonable and you can also pay by credit card. There is another Chinese Medicine Shop in Happy Garden which is even cheaper but they accept cash only. If you are interested to know where, leave me a comment :). For my convenience, I went to the one nearer. 

Rachel's Similac is only RM59.50 here. At another shop in Puchong, they sold Similac (green cap) for RM61 which they said was a very special price (?!). No need to mention about supermarkets of course - it is like >RM67 over there - I'd only buy if it's really an emergency.

While I was there, I asked the sinseh about my girl - despite taking all those medicine, how come she still has lots of phlegm when she coughs occassionally. He advised to dillute the milk and drink lots of water. Especially in hot weather like this, the milk will cause phlegm and heatiness. Dillute the milk, drink lots of water AND feed her with Hao Zao San, Chuen Pui mixed (which I can get there). That was his advice. Ooops I forgot! To boil 'sang suk yee mai' as well for all at home to drink as water. Only put 2 or 3 pieces of winter melon sugar (gula kundur) for taste but not too much as it can cause phlegm. My Chinese Sin seh has been my advicer - not bad ya!

I also stocked up the Snow Jelly which is depleting. There was a promotion for 9 squares of Snow Jelly and free pao sum for RM180.  Got that too. Snow Jelly is supposed to help boost immunity, strengthen the lungs and for good skin. The alternative, the more expensive alternative is Bird Nest - which only to help strengthen lungs.